Rodrigo Cassola, Brazil
I joined MEG back in 2009, as part of its 5th cohort (MEG5). At the time, I was a young environmentalist with the Brazilian environmental agency (IBAMA). Having joined the agency straight out of the university and after 5 years of facing the challenges of environmental policy implementation in a developing country, I felt something was missing. With a background in natural sciences, there was clearly a gap in my understanding of the social and economic dimensions of environmental issues. Enrolling in a postgraduate program was a way route to deal with this limitation. More traditional, single-discipline, postgraduate courses, the kind available in Brazil at the time, had little appeal to me and would not close my knowledge gap.
This motivated me to search for opportunities elsewhere. In my case, Germany was an obvious place to start. I had a very positive experience with DAAD during my undergraduate studies (Hochschulwinterkurs, in 2002). It was through DAAD that I learned about MEG and, also, that it was part of a scholarship program for young professionals from developing countries, which was my case. MEG’s curriculum sounded exactly what I was looking for. It was international and transdisciplinary, including opportunities to develop soft skills and get some work experience abroad. I applied back in 2008 and started MEG the next year. Moving to Germany without DAAD’s support would not have been an option. I had a job and a family (wife and one-year-old son). The support from DAAD gave me peace of mind to make the move and the whole family moved to Germany.
What an amazingly diverse group MEG5 was. Colleagues came from all over - Ghana, Germany, USA, Uzbekistan, India, Ecuador, and many other places. It was my first experience with such a multicultural environment. Many colleagues were, like me, young professionals back in their countries, allowing for a rich exchange of experiences. We have learned a lot from each other. I am still in touch with some of my MEG5 colleagues and have made use of the wider MEG network on different occasions. I feel privileged to have access to this network of environmental professionals from all over the world.
MEG is a welcoming and friendly program. Content-wise, it met all my expectations by providing a broad understanding of environmental issues and professional development opportunities. As part of my internship, I collaborated with UNEP´s The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) initiative as part of its Scientific Coordination (hosted, at the time, by the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ in Leipzig). My thesis, co-supervised by a UFZ researcher, assessed options for an economic instrument for financing biodiversity conservation in Brazil. Later, I had the opportunity of presenting this work on some policy-relevant venues* and to publish it as a policy brief (in collaboration with a Brazilian NGO).
After concluding MEG, I moved back to Brazil and re-joined the environmental agency, staying there for another six years. The experience abroad has opened opportunities within the agency, but, above all, it gave me the confidence to pursue an international career. Back in 2016, I moved with my family to the UK and have since been working at international environmental organizations. Today, I am a Senior Programme Officer with the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) where I lead our Finance for Nature workstream. Among other things, I continue exploring economic instruments for financing biodiversity conservation (now globally).
* 7th Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity (Norway, 2013); CBD ́s Quito Seminar on Scaling up Finance for Biodiversity (Ecuador, 2014); CBD ́s Regional Workshop on Resource Mobilization for Latin America and the Caribbean (Brasília, 2014)
